Game Center CX Arino’s Challenge 2: The First Three Games

Xseed said a disappointing comment about the chances of seeing the sequel to Retro Game Challengeoverseas. A real bummer because Game Center CX: Arino’s Challenge 2′s faux retro games are better designed and more relevant parodies for North America.

I started Game Center CX: Arino’s Challenge 2 which, like the first game, has a kid version of you sitting in Arino’s living room playing “Game Computer” titles and completing Game Master Arino’s challenges. The first game kid Arino brings home is Wiz-Man.

Wiz-Man is like Pac-Man meets Ikaruga. You control Wiz-man, a ghost that runs through a maze and collects crystals. Grab all of the crystals and you clear the level. The twist is you need to pick up a rod, either a red one or a blue one, which lets you grab same color gems. If you run over blue gems while holding a red rod nothing happens. Holding a rod also allows Wiz-man to cast magic — fire if he has a red rod, ice if he has a blue one. Ice magic can only hurt red enemies. If you see a blue flame walking around you need a red rod and fire magic to defeat it.

Challenge # 1 – Power up Wiz-Man. Multiple rods of the same color make Wiz-Man run faster and allow him to cast more spells. For instance, two red rods let Wiz-Man cast fire twice. Grab two same color rods and you win.

Challenge #2 – Eat eight flashing crystals. When you grab a rod a large crystal flashes. Start by grabbing it. Then follow the dots to the next flashing crystal. This teaches players the method maximizing their score by eating crystals on a specific path.

Challenge #3 – Beat floor 4.

Challenge #4 – Grab ten treasure stones. Think of these like the cherries in Pac-Man. They briefly appear in the middle of the screen after you eat 50 micro crystals.

After beating the Wiz-Man challenges I took a break from the story and left Arino’s house. Now you can visit the store where Arino purchases Game Computer software and play remixes of games from Retro Game Challenge. The only game I earned at this point was Cosmic Gate Masa-X Version. Later on I got Robot Ninja Haggleman Koume Version, which is Haggleman with a female character.

Invincible Fist Kung Fu was the next game on Game Master Arnio’s list. The graphical style is like the NES game Kung Fu, but this game has modern elements like rhythm timing and… bears! You also kick ninjas that throw USA shaped shuriken colored like the American Flag.

Challenge #1 – Knock an enemy back. There are two ways to combo attacks. You can punch/kick right away or wait a second and press a button for a powerful hit that sends an enemy flying.

Challenge #2 – Beat the boxer mid boss in stage 1.

Challenge #3 – Obtain the Invincible Fist power. You can use the knockback strike to throw an enemy into another enemy. If you kill an enemy like this they release an energy orb. Collect four of these to unlock the invincible fist power.

Challenge #4 – Beat the boss in stage 2. To do this you also have to beat the mini-boss of stage two, a warrior with a fire-breathing dragon helmet.

Demon Returns is the third game Arino buys and it’s sure to put a smile on everyone’s face. The game is a parody of Super Mario Brothers with elements from Adventure Island. You play a small demon that grows big by collecting a moon coin. There isn’t a time limit, but you need to keep eating floating apples otherwise the demon runs out of fuel.

The levels in Demon Returns are obviously inspired by Super Mario Brothers. An invisible extra life in the first stage is in a similar position to the 1up mushroom in World 1-1. Both games also have an underground stage for World 1-2.

Challenge #1 – Ride an enemy. When Demon slashes at an enemy it flips upside down. You can jump on it and ride it sort of like how Master Higgins rides a skateboard. Demon moves much faster while surfing on a Takoppi and can double jump by hopping off an enemy. In later levels you have to use the double jump move to leap over large gaps and reach high platforms.

Challenge #2 – Get the spinning tornado move. Collecting two moon coins turns the Demon green and gives him a tornado tossing move. I’m sure you know what inspired this.

Challenge #3 – Collect 100 souls. Souls are the equivalent of coins in Super Mario Brothers. These float on the screen when you beat enemies and hit some jars that release them.

Challenge #4 – Clear Stage 1-4. After leaping over spinning electric sticks Demon reaches a boss. Since your foe isn’t standing on a bridge over a pit of lava you have to fight it head on. The boss throws his head which morphs into an enemy. Hit the thrown enemy with your claws, ride it, and crash into the boss to damage it.

At the end of the Stage 1-4 a message appears. It reads, “But this castle is Hades Prince’s castle. Go for Queen’s Castle! Let’s go to the next stage!!” Unfortunately, the next “stage” is a text heavy adventure game, which will give players who don’t understand Japanese a headache. See, the adventure game road block is one of the reasons why we need Xseed to localize Game Center CX Arino’s Challenge 2 in English. Be sure to support Retro Game Challenge.

wow so thoses are the challenges im glad u posted these up cause i downloaded the rom a couple of weeks ago and gave tryin to figure it out caue i know no japanese but i did the 1st by luck

http://www.myspace.com/guillermoj23 Guillermo

Wow XSEED Games or whoever better localize this cause Retro Game Challenge is the Shitt !! Ive already completed all the challenges exept the last very one, those who have played RTGC know what it is.., Right now Im making my way through the JRPG which kicks ass, Please support Retro Game Challenge so we can see the sequel here in the US :(

http://twitter.com/matty_125 matty

Man, let me tell you something. I checked out the show, Game Center CX, after hearing about this game. I watched Arino play through a few games and I thought, “why is this guy called the Retro Game Master? He’s not good at all!”. But, I noticed something. In any game he comes across he doesn’t let up. Yeah, it’s part of the show, but he isn’t so much of challenging the game as he is challenging himself. The sweat, the pain, frustration, and the joy and bliss of beating the games – he shows it all, and to top it off he does it with a smile. In a time where people put down a game within minutes and go through them like tissues, he sits face to face with them in intimate and intense moments. Call me crazy but I just get really impressed by that.
He isn’t a “master” for being GREAT at games. Racer X said it best: “It doesn’t matter if racing never changes. What matters is if we let racing change us. Every one of us has to find a reason to do this. You don’t climb into a T-180 to be a driver. You do it because you’re driven”. That’s what it’s all about.
If we ever cross paths I’d just want to thank him – not for giving me the inspiration to beat Ghouls N’ Ghost (’cause I haven’t, yet), but for making me think “if he can do it, then so can I!”. I got a lot farther than I ever thought I could thanks to him. I’d also share him my secret for controlling an oily face and acne, heh.
Also, I asked XSEED about this, since a bit of confusion spread around the forums I frequent: the brunette warrior with the headband in Guadia Quest is actually a girl. That’s the word from the game masters themselves! It’s silly, but a few theories popped up around this since the GameFan magazine said the girl character was a magic user and people thought that referred to #2 character. Just letting you know.

http://www.siliconera.com/ Ishaan

Awesome post. I almost had tears in my eyes when I read the Racer X quote. I felt the exact same way about Bit. Trip Beat last week when I saw all the love for it, despite the fact that it’s really, really hard after a point.

jarrodand

If XSEED doesn’t pick this one up, I sort of get the feeling someone else will. Hell, Hometek may just do it themselves…

Kenofthedead

Such a great game, it’s one of those that makes it worth knowing Japanese.

We could still see it get localized though. The first game just needs more game sales in the States, enough to prove that it’s worth the risk for them to work on this one. So if you don’t own Retro Game Challenge, go buy it. Tell your friends to buy it. Make it have sales so you can get this sequel, which is far better.

http://www.liquid-crystal.biz/ kryptonics

Xseed needs to spice up their marketing a little. I don’t believe traditional marketing will work for this type of game. I’m curious… what would the effect be if these games were marketed individually?

I’d like to see Xseed release sets of screenshots of each game, and for the time being ignore the 80′s hub world. While the aspect of reliving what it was like to be a gamer during the 80′s is unique and arguably a huge selling point, for whatever reason, it hasn’t caught on.

Hyping up each individual game could magnify the potential; imagine Cosmic Gate or Guadia Quest reviews appearing on Game Rankings or Metacritic. It would start discussions, create hyperlinks, and all work its way back to Retro Game Challenge. I’d send copies out to all major review sites and ask them not to re-review Retro Game Challenge, but rather each game. While there’s potential for bad reviews, Bit.trip Beat has scored (and sold) well despite being a simplistic retro game.

I’m amazed at the quality of each game in Retro Game Challenge, and I think if more people realized this, sales will take off.

mdea

I’ve seen the game name floating around the Internet and was wondering what it was about. I may have to check this out.tratament acnee

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